
Nathan Gouwens, Ph.D.
Assistant Investigator
Nathan Gouwens joined the Allen Institute in 2014 as a scientist in the Modeling, Analysis, and Theory group. Now as an Assistant Investigator, he is currently involved with developing biophysically detailed simulations of individual neurons in the mouse visual cortex. These simulations are based on combined electrophysiological and morphological data with the goal of determining how biophysical mechanisms shape the processing of visual information in cortex. Before joining the Allen Institute, Nathan was a graduate student in the lab of Rachel Wilson at Harvard Medical School. His graduate research involved analyzing how electrical signals propagated in the early olfactory circuit in Drosophila through a combination of electrophysiological experiments and computational models. Nathan received his PhD in Neurobiology from Harvard University, an MPhil in Biological Sciences from the University of Cambridge, and a BA in Integrated Science and Biological Sciences at Northwestern University.

Research
Research Interests
Nathan Gouwens is studying how biophysical mechanisms influence the processing of visual information by cortical neurons through the development of detailed simulations. These biophysical models are based on electrophysiological measurements of intrinsic properties as well as detailed morphologies, which can also serve as building blocks for larger-scale network simulations. The aims are to integrate diverse data to reproduce experimentally-observed features of neuronal activity and to gain insights into how different biophysical mechanisms interplay to shape the role a neuron plays in visual circuits.
Expertise
- Computational neuroscience
- Biophysical modeling
- Electrophysiology
Research Programs
- Modeling, Analysis and Theory
Selected Publications
Neuron
March 5, 2020
Billeh YN, Cai B, Gratiy SL, Dai K, Iyer R, Gouwens NW, Abbasi-Asl R, Jia X, Siegle JH, Olsen SR, Koch C, Mihalas S, Arkhipov A
Common cell type nomenclature for the mammalian brain
eLife
December 29, 2020
Miller JA, Gouwens NW, Tasic B, Collman F, van Velthoven CT, Bakken TE, Hawrylycz MJ, Zeng H, Lein ES, Bernard A.
Integrated Morphoelectric and Transcriptomic Classification of Cortical GABAergic Cells
Cell
November 12, 2020
Gouwens NW, Sorensen SA, Baftizadeh F, Budzillo A, Lee BR, Jarsky T, Alfiler L, Baker K, Barkan E, Berry K, Bertagnolli D, Bickley K, Bomben J, Braun T, Brouner K, Casper T, Crichton K, Daigle TL, Dalley R, de Frates RA, Dee N, Desta T, Lee SD, Dotson N, Egdorf T, Ellingwood L, Enstrom R, Esposito L, Farrell C, Feng D, Fong O, Gala R, Gamlin C, Gary A, Glandon A, Goldy J, Gorham M, Graybuck L, Gu H, Hadley K, Hawrylycz MJ, Henry AM, Hill D, Hupp M, Kebede S, Kim TK, Kim L, Kroll M, Lee C, Link KE, Mallory M, Mann R, Maxwell M, McGraw M, McMillen D, Mukora A, Ng L, Ng L, Ngo K, Nicovich PR, Oldre A, Park D, Peng H, Penn O, Pham T, Pom A, Popović Z, Potekhina L, Rajanbabu R, Ransford S, Reid D, Rimorin C, Robertson M, Ronellenfitch K, Ruiz A, Sandman D, Smith K, Sulc J, Sunkin SM, Szafer A, Tieu M, Torkelson A, Trinh J, Tung H, Wakeman W, Ward K, Williams G, Zhou Z, Ting JT, Arkhipov A, Sümbül U, Lein ES, Koch C, Yao Z, Tasic B, Berg J, Murphy GJ, Zeng H
PLoS One
September 4, 2019
Weed N, Bakken T, Graddis N, Gouwens N, Millman D, Hawrylycz M, Waters J
Classification of electrophysiological and morphological neuron types in mouse visual cortex
Nature Neuroscience
June 17, 2019
Gouwens NW, Sorensen SA, Berg J, Lee C, Jarsky T, Ting J, Sunkin S, Feng D, Anastassiou C, Barkan E, Bickley K, Blesie N, Braun T, Brouner K, Budzillo A, Caldejon S, Casper T, Castelli D, Chong P, Crichton K, Cuhaciyan C, Daigle T, Dalley R, Dee N, Desta T, Dingman S, Doperalski A, Dotson N, Egdorf T, Fisher M, de Frates RA, Garren E, Garwood M, Gary A, Gaudreault N, Godfrey K, Gorham M, Gu H, Habel C, Hadley K, Harrington J, Harris J, Henry A, Hill D, Josephsen S, Kebede S, Kim L, Kroll M, Lee B, Lemon T, Liu X, Long B, Mann R, McGraw M, Mihalas S, Mukora A, Murphy GJ, Ng L, Ngo K, Nguyen TN, Nicovich PR, Oldre A, Park D, Parry S, Perkins J, Potekhina L, Reid D, Robertson M, Sandman D, Schroedter M, Slaughterbeck C, Soler-Llavina C, Sulc J, Szafer A, Tasic B, Taskin N, Teeter C, Thatra N, Tung H, Wakeman W, Williams G, Young R, Zhou Z, Farrell C, Peng H, Hawrylycz MJ, Lein E, Ng L, Arkhipov A, Bernard A, Phillips J, Zeng H, Koch C
BioNet: A Python interface to NEURON for modeling large-scale networks
PLOS | ONE
August 2, 2018
Gratiy SL, Billeh YN, Dai K, Mitelut C, Feng D, Gouwens NW, Cain N, Koch C, Anastassiou CA, Arkhipov A
Systematic generation of biophysically detailed models for diverse cortical neuron types
Nature Communications
February 19, 2018
Gouwens NW, Berg J, Feng D, Sorensen SA, Zeng H, Hawrylycz MJ, Koch C, and Arkhipov A
Generalized leaky integrate-and-fire models classify multiple neuron types
Nature Communications
February 19, 2018
Teeter C, Iyer R, Menon V, Gouwens N, Feng D, Berg J, Szafer A, Cain N, Zeng H, Hawrylycz M, Koch C, Mihalas S
Visual physiology of the Layer 4 cortical circuit in silico
PLoS Computational Biology
November 12, 2018
Arkhipov A, Gouwens NW, Billeh YN, Gratiy S, Iyer R, Wei Z, Xu Z, Berg J, Buice M, Cain N, da Costa N, de Vries S, Denman D, Durand S, Feng D, Jarsky T, Lecoq J, Lee B, Li L, Mihalas S, Ocker GK, Olsen SR, Reid RC, Soler-LLavina G, Sorensen SA, Wang Q, Waters J, Scanziani M, Koch C
PLoS Computational Biology
September 30, 2010
Gouwens NW, Zeberg H, Tsumoto K, Tateno T, Aihara K, Robinson HP
Signal propagation in Drosophila central neurons
Journal of Neuroscience
May 13, 2009
Gouwens NW, Wilson RI
Nature Neuroscience
November 10, 2007
Bhandawat V, Olsen SR, Gouwens NW, Schlief ML, Wilson RI
Journal of Neuroscience
June 15, 2003
Khaliq ZM, Gouwens NW, Raman IM